Consumer Product Safety Agency Recalls 9.6 Million Playpens

In one of the largest recalls of a children's product in history, 9.6 million playpens were recalled Tuesday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission because protruding parts pose a strangulation risk to children.

The government safety agency said eight children died between 1982 and 1997 when pacifier strings around their necks or loose clothing got caught on metal rivets sticking out of the playpens. Five of the deaths were blamed on defective playpens made by Rubbermaid Inc.'s Graco Children's Products Inc. unit. Rubbermaid is being acquired by Freeport-based Newell Co.

The recalled playpens are portable mesh models that fold down for travel or storage, the commission said. Some of the playpens were built nearly 40 years ago, while others were made as recently as May. They were sold under the brand names Graco, Bilt-Rite, Kolcraft, Playskool, Pride-Trimble, Houdini, Gerry and Strolee.

Russ Rader, a spokesman for the safety commission, said the agency initiated the playpen recall after one of its investigators found that the protruding rivets were a common link in all eight toddler deaths. The agency had initially blamed six of the deaths on pacifiers with strings and the two others on clothing with loose strings, he said.

The sale of pacifiers with strings has been banned since 1977, but that doesn't prevent parents from unwittingly putting pacifiers on string after they get them home. The commission reiterated earlier warnings to parents and care-givers that they should never put any kind of string around a baby's neck.

Consumers are being encouraged by the safety commission and the manufacturers to check the outside top rails of their playpens for the metal rivets, which stick out about one-quarter to one-half inch from the playpens. Playpens with exposed rivets, which are similar to nut-and-bolt fasteners, should not be used.

Some recalled playpens can be repaired with a kit from the manufacturers. Other manufacturers are offering refunds in exchange for proof of destruction. Two of the companies that made the playpens are out of business. Consumers with faulty playpens can call 800-794-4115 to find out what remedy is available for the brand they own.

Chicago-based Kolcraft Enterprises Inc., which made 2.6 million of these play yards from January 1986 to May 1998, is offering a free repair kit to cover the rivets. Because parents often give away their playpens once their children get older, the company is also asking pediatricians and retail and thrift store employees to encourage consumers to search their homes and day-care centers for these recalled playpens.

The recall sent Chicago-area parents and care-givers scrambling to check their playpens. Stella Burres, who runs an in-house day-care facility on the South Side, said she heard about the recall on TV Tuesday morning. She immediately checked the five playpens she uses but discovered they were not part of the recall.

Like many day-care operators, Burres said she minimizes the children's time in a playpen, using them only for naps.

"Once they wake up, I take them out," she said, adding that she doesn't trust playpen sturdiness once a child can freely move around in them. She believes the only way to avoid accidents is to keep a vigilant eye on the children.

Jolly Fun House Playschool in Prospect Heights uses one playpen, mainly to keep infants in a safe place while the toddlers play on the floor, said director Michele Payne.

Payne heard about the recall Tuesday afternoon from a parent of one of the children at the facility. But Payne does not believe the playpen they use is one of the recalled brands. If it is, she said, it will immediately be pulled. Tuesday's playpen recall ranks as one of the largest such moves since the Consumer Product Safety Commission was established by President Richard Nixon in 1972. It comes one month after the commission recalled 10 million Fisher-Price Power Wheels riding cars and trucks after receiving hundreds of reports of fires, electrical malfunctions and minor injuries to children caused by the battery-powered vehicles. The action against Fisher-Price, a unit of Mattel Inc., was the largest recall of a retail toy.